During stage 1, initial coding and then focused coding produced emerging themes and theoretical categories. These themes, which are discussed in detail in chapter five, helped to shape the questions for the stage 3 semi-structured phone interviews. The interviews sought firstly to capture data about the contexts participants were working in, secondly, to hear clergy talk about their own personal sense of vocation and perceived changes over time, thirdly, to gauge the perceived interaction of personality and vocation, fourthly, to gather information on participants views and motivations for witness, fifthly, to investigate understandings and practices of pioneer ministry, and finally, to hear participants’ experiences of growth and decline and their perceived impact of this on the practice of ministry.
4.10.1 Pilot Study Interviews
Before embarking on the interviews I conducted three pilot study interviews. These interviews helped me to develop and rework the schedule to ensure the questions would produce appropriate types of data. Interviewees were recruited from a group of final year ordinands at Cranmer Hall, who were completing parish based placements, from which they could draw on to respond to the interview questions. The interviews took place at Cranmer Hall.
During the pilot interviews, it became apparent that questions about vocation could be misinterpreted. For example,
How would you describe your vocation to ordained ministry?
This can be answered either as a narrative of someone’s journey towards ordained ministry and the various influences within that, or, as a description of the types of things someone feels called to. The pilot study was invaluable in enabling me to experiment with different ways of asking questions. During the stage 3 interviews I opted for starting with the general question, as above, with subsidiary questions depending on response. For example if someone, in response to this question, discussed their vocational journey, they would then be asked to finish the sentence ‘I am called to …..’ Similarly if they described what they felt they were called to without talking about their vocational journey, they would then be asked about that. There are a few questions on the interview schedule, with various additional sub- questions which could be used, depending on how the interviewee responded. The interview schedule can be found in appendix 4.
The pilot study also showed how useful the initial question about context was. Asking interviewees to talk briefly about the church/es and ministry they were currently involved in had the dual effect of gathering background data whilst enabling the interviewee to feel at ease. Clergy during the pilot study, and then again during stage 3 interviews, were confident in answering this opening question, helping the interview to begin well. In addition, opening with a more narrative and open ended style of question helped me to gauge whether the interviewee was talkative or quiet, whether they stuck to the point or were liable to go off on
tangents. This gave hints for how I could work with them through the interview to ensure I heard their perspective whilst covering the types of information I was aiming to gather.
Most questions are open ended, however in question 8, interviewees are asked to relate to a number of listed definitions or types. These were developed through the analysis of selection files. Question 11, which asks participants their reasons in taking up their current post, was added during the pilot study, as it became clear that some clergy are more able than others (often due to family circumstances) to opt for roles which relate to their own particular sense of calling. Others however, if they are unable to move, take roles based on location. In looking at vocation and practice, it was therefore important to gauge the factors influencing their current ministry role. I had expected this to be of interest, however the analysis did not reveal what had been expected, with those opting for posts according to geographical limitations showing they were able to exercise their vocation as much as those who chose posts they felt explicitly called to.
4.10.2 Stage 3 Interviews
Stage 3 phone interviews were conducted between June and August 2015, with twenty three out of the twenty four possible interviews completed. Interviews took about forty five minutes, with a few participants taking more or less time to complete the questions. It was important to set an open tone at the start, in explaining the process and purpose of the interview. I made a point of not rushing into the interview and used self-disclosure to encourage an open tone for the interview.418 Before each interview, I carefully prepared the opening of the interview. Interviewees signed and returned consent forms before the interview, however, I reiterated ethics and consent information at the start of the interview.
Interviews were recorded and then transcribed. I kept a fieldwork journal making note of any thoughts and reflections during the interviews. After the interviews were completed and transcribed, coding analysis was conducted using NVIVO software. As described for stage 1 analysis, transcripts were coded using in vivo coding and initial coding. This was followed
418 Davies, Reflexive Ethnography, 101.
by focused coding, following up theoretical categories from stage 1 and the development of new theoretical categories.
4.11 Conclusion
The preceding description and evaluation of the research process including the key decisions and assumptions made and noting how areas of weakness have been limited, attempts to demonstrate the rigour of the research process, providing credibility for the research findings. Along with chapter three, this chapter provides the methodological basis of the research and an evaluation of methods used. An adaptation of Lartey’s cycle is employed, and within this cycle of theological reflection situational analysis is conducted through constructivist grounded theory methods. The three stages of the situational analysis have been discussed including; stage 1: analysis of selection documents, stage 2: theoretical sampling, stage 3: semi structured interviews. General concerns about data collection and analysis have been discussed, showing how the need for rich data helped to shape the research design and methods employed. Following this, and through each stage, an evaluation of methods has shown how data was gathered and analysed.
The objective, to explore understandings of mission and evangelism amongst clergy and to assess how these understandings influence ministerial practice, shaped the development of the research design. The research objective, broken down into the following six questions, helped steer the choice and application of methods used, ensuring that findings could offer theories of vocation grounded in practice.
1. How is a vocation to mission and evangelism understood by clergy?
2. Are there identifiable personality factors which affect the way clergy understand mission and evangelism?
3. How do these understandings of vocation change over time?
4. How do patterns of formation, training and deployment affect these understandings of vocation?
5. In what ways does a vocation to ordained pioneer ministry differ from the more general ordained vocation?
6. How do understandings of vocation influence ministerial practice and church growth? The research questions set the boundaries and focus of the research, with the aim of proposing recommendations relating to selection, training and deployment for the Church of England. Chapter five goes on to discuss the findings of the situational analysis phase, addressing these six questions and offering a constructivist grounded theory developed from the data.